Los Angeles Department of City Planning Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles Project Information October 2013 What is the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles? A General Plan is a city’s “constitution”; it describes the City’s long range vision for growth and development. The Plan for a Healhty Los Angeles will be a new health and wellness chapter to the City’s General Plan Framework Element and will elevate health as a key priority in making growth and development decisions. The new Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles will provide guidelines to make Los Angeles a healthier place to live, work and play. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health-driven design policies can improve people’s health by improving access to healthful food, reducing injuries, minimizing the effects of climate change, and making it easier for people to walk and bike. A growing body of research links the design of communities to some of the nation’s most chronic health conditions, such as obesity, heart disease and mental health. The Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles will serve as a policy mandate to prioritize health as the City develops and grows. The citywide document will use planning- based tools such as transportation, land use, open space and environmental standards to increase opportunities for healthful living in Los Angeles. • Set a long term vision for health in Los Angeles and highlight the relationship between health and planning. • Establish objectives to improve health conditions throughout the City, especially for communities facing the greatest health disparities. • Identify implementation programs to meet established health goals. The Health Atlas, released in June 2013, is a data-driven report that analyzed health conditions in Los Angeles on topics such as air quality, asthma rates, access to healthy food options, access to opportunities for physical activity, and obesity rates. The Health Atlas, along with stakeholder input, has been critical in identifying issues that impact individual and community health in Los Angeles. The project team, in partnership with City departments and community-based group, engaged in a robust community outreach campiagn to identify opportunities to improve health outcomes in Los Angeles. What will the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles do? Major Milestones